Jonah
I watched her drag her feet across the floor, designer fabric clinging to her frame, jewels catching the light, yet she looked like a child whose candle had been taken.
I lowered my gaze to my phone, where a red warning line flashed from the bank signaling that an enormous amount was about to be spent.
She was trying to buy a car still in production, so why did she look so dejected?
She parted her lips to speak, then seemed to reconsider and glanced behind her like she wasn't sure what to say.
"Mr. Pellard?"
Her eyes widened slightly as she leaned closer to the window, trying to get a clearer look at my face.
My expression hardened.
"Acting cute won't change the fact that you're trying to buy a car worth one hundred and twenty million. Don't you already have a car? And where's your phone? I've been calling you."
She stared at me, eyes wide, lips parting as if she wanted to explain, only to clamp them shut again.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I don't remember you being this talkative," she muttered.
I thinned my lips and raised my phone, waving it in front of her face.
"I become talkative whenever you try to buy something you already own for an exorbitant price. Things like a car."
"I didn't try to buy a car."
"The card is under your name."
"No," she said softly. "You sent it to the Brooke family."
I frowned. "I did?"
She nodded, almost too quickly like she was afraid of being scolded.
Putting my phone away, my frown deepened.
"Get in."
The words had barely left my mouth when the door opened and she slipped inside like an eel.
Hiding my surprise, I turned to look out the window to conceal my amusement.
She claimed she wasn't the one buying the car, yet she was unusually obedient today—almost as if she were trying to stay on my good side.
"You can't take me to the house," she said after a while.
I turned back to her.
"I sent the card to the Brooke family residence. If someone is misusing it, they should be confronted."
I waited for her response.
When she didn't reply, I tilted my head to find her staring out the window.
The car pulled into the driveway and I got out.
Seconds passed, yet she remained inside.
"What are you doing?"
She looked up at me, her eyes glistening faintly under the moonlight as she said firmly, "I can't go back in."
"You must."
She bit her lip, hesitation flickering across her face. After a brief moment, she took a deep breath and stepped out.
We hadn't gone far when I noticed movement near the entrance.
"M-Mr. Pellard, I didn't know you were coming," Jude Brooke stammered.
I barely nodded, lifting my gaze to take in the rest of the Brooke family.
"You're the one trying to buy a car?"
"Sir?" He looked stunned.
Not him.
So I shifted my attention to the others.
This flashy wife of mine wasn't the type to leave her card behind—not with her spending habits.
If someone had managed to take it, then it had to be someone bold enough.
"Mrs. Brooke."
"To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, Mr. Pellard?" Emilia Brooke asked.
Though she tried to smile, her composure was strained. Her gaze kept drifting toward Diana.
So I was right.
"Where's my card?"
"Y-your card?"
My patience thinned.
"Someone attempted to purchase a car worth one hundred and twenty million using the card I sent to the Brooke family," I said, sweeping my gaze across them.
"Oh, you must mean this, Mr. Pellard."
I turned toward the voice as a hand stretched out, holding the gold card.
Who was this?
She seemed to notice my confusion and quickly pulled her hand back, fiddling with the card as she rushed to explain.
"Mr. Pellard, I'm Lana—the Brooke family's biological daughter. I was switched at birth with Diana and grew up impoverished elsewhere. My biological parents and I only reunited recently…"
"Why do you have the card?" I cut in.
"Oh, this?" She smiled faintly. "Diana left the Brooke family today. Since everything she owned came from them, she had to return it. Naturally, the card was included."
I stared at her.
"You grew up poor, but the first thing you thought of after getting the card was to buy a car worth one hundred and twenty million?"